Back in 2005-06, I had a FIRST LEGO League team called the CyberBots. These students are now in their twenties and doing great things: architectural engineering, research medical surgery, electrical engineering, digital strategist, technology and more. Recently, one, Saeed Jabbar won the weWork Creator Award for his non-profit organization, Inclusion.

Started in 2015 through a grant request, Inclusion provides training in computer coding and technology skills that would led its students to new and better employment.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Wondering what to give LEGO fans this holiday season who seems to have just about every new kit possible? Well, you could give them a bucket of LEGO elements (they could never have enough LEGO elements) or perhaps a new LEGO book.Just in time for the holidays is a new book, The LEGO Train Book by Holger Matthes, No Starch Press, 2017.

Holger Matthes has been building with LEGO since 2000. He was involved in the creation of various official LEGO projects such as the Hobby Train set #10183 and frequently presents his models and gives workshops at LEGO exhibitions worldwide. He describes his book as a book "about designing LEGO trains. The first part of the book gives an overview of LEGO trains over the different eras, covers some history, and answers questions about how to combine old LEGO trains from the attic with today’s kits.

The second part of the book is about building your own LEGO train models, also known as My Own Creations (MOCs) . Using my many years of experience building LEGO models, I’ll show you how to create proper train models, covering both the possibilities and the limitations.

Finally, the book ends with step-by-step building instructions for several models."

This is a wonderful book for the LEGO fan and particularly the LEGO train fan and possibly the model train enthusiast as well. It is also available at Amazon*

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

There is a new movement that has grown out of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) or more appropriately STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art/Design, Mathematics); it is learning by doing, which really isn't a new concept - John Dewy first brought it to light back in the early 1900s - “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” “Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results.” This has initiated the Inventive Spirit!

This new movement is not just encouraging students in general, but also the Spectrum student (students with Special Needs). And although STEM may have been looked upon as "male thing;" females are being inspired and leading the way (such as, Ayah Bdeir of littleBits®).

Sunday, November 19, 2017

If teams are having some trouble getting the Faucet water level to stay in position after turning the knob, it might be because the beige long pin is too loose fitting or the blue axle pin on the lift mechanism. Try switching the blue axle pin with another or using a blue long pin instead of of the beige long one; the knob will turn easily and the water level will stay when if flips.

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

FLL Teams be sure to check for the latest updates @ FIRSTThe latest update was December...

Robot Game Updates

NOTICE: Update 4 has been reworded, and Update 2 has been renamed.

18 December 2017

UPDATE 11 - FILTER LEVER SETUP

Setup for the Filter model’s lock latch shall be dropped northward, and not perched upward.

7 November 2017

UPDATE 10 – WELL SLIDER CONTACT LENIENCY

When all four of a Water Well’s black slider buttons are in contact with the mat, that Well will be scored as if its entire circular base is in full/flat contact with the mat wherever the well is. Restated: Although it’s true that the sliders keep the circular base off the mat, the well will be scored as if the sliders were taken away. (Ignore picture of Well on its side - sliders are not making contact)

UPDATE 9 – FOUNTAIN AND FLOWER RISE

Each of these missions requires something to “rise,” by any method, and to “stay there” due only to a Big Water in the required place.

UPDATE 8 – BASE RETURN LENIENCY

A Robot entering Base will be considered “completely in Base” as soon as it matches the 2nd picture in Rule D07 even if there are portions of the Robot or something it has transported partially past the west or south border walls. This leniency does not apply for Launches.

UPDATE 7 – CLOUD DIRECTION AND DAMAGE

DIRECTION - Don’t be confused by the presence of yellow on both sides of the Cloud Model. The curvy cloud-like feature along with the lightning face east, as described and shown in the Field Setup Guide. If you have somehow come across a picture actually showing the Model backwards, see Rule GP5 #4, Bullet 1.

DAMAGE – Be careful your Robot doesn’t break the lightning off the Cloud Model. Even though that feature is a decoration, Rule R17 still applies.

UPDATE 6 – REMOTE STORAGE

Team members away from the table may hold Equipment after the referee has seen all of it in one place, but Models must stay in view of the referee.

21 October 2017

UPDATE 5 – PUMP DUAL LOCK

If you press your Pump Model against the wall but some of the Dual Lock is still visible (higher than the wall), re-apply the Dual Lock lower as needed until it’s no longer visible. Unlike with other Models, the precise Dual Lock pattern for this Model is not critical. Just be sure some pairs are low, and some pairs are as high as possible without being visible.

UPDATE 4 – RULE D07, 6th PICTURE

In Rule D07, ignore the 6th picture and its caption.

UPDATE 3 – OPTIONAL LOOP OVERHANG

The Optional Loop sometimes tilts out of the airspace above Pipe scoring area. This has no effect on the scoring.

UPDATE 2 – WATER TREATMENT AXLE MAINTENANCE

After following the Field Setup page (not the video) accurately, you may notice that the axle leading from the Toilet doesn’t exactly trace perfectly over its mark on the mat… THIS IS OKAY. At a tournament, the Toilet will be built and placed as shown, so that’s the placement you should practice with. If your properly built Water Treatment Model doesn’t activate while the yellow lever is held down, the problem is friction in the treatment Model. Make sure no beam is being pinched between a gear and a brown axle-joiner, nor pinched between two gears. Spread such elements from each other just a tiny bit, to ensure free-play. Also make sure all pins are fully “clicked” into their holes, for alignment.

UPDATE 1 – Leniency (REVISED)

If you Interrupt the Robot while it’s Transporting something that came from Base during the most recent Launch, you may keep that thing.

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Research Project:READ the Challenge Guide, it gives you direction in what the challenge is about, plus valuable tips & resources to check out. Start on it right away!

Robot Performance & Technical:

If you kids are new to Mindstorms robotics, before you tackle the robot performance, teach them basic robotic building & coding. After they show some confidence & understanding have them put the field models together, discuss strategy, decide on a robot chassis or two, and then let them take it from there.

Here are a couple of excellent links that will be helpful to the rookie teams:

Core Values:Have the work on a Core Value or two each practice - explaining how it relates to their team, gathering pictures, ideas for their team board display, and possibly working on a song, skit, demo, etc.

Consider This...I have been asked by rookie coaches, what is the role of the coach? FIRST is a fun learning experience, however, the kids need a foundation; the coach should be teaching them or reviewing the basic skills (how to build a simple chassis, basic programming, how to keep an engineer's notebook, how to do an experiment, note-taking, how to write a summary, how to do a blog, etc.) that they need to then go on and learn/make their own decisions/discover by doing. The coach's role after that is mainly management and directing the team on how to do problem solving & where to possibly go for answers. A coach doesn't just hand the team a kit, the guide, & say "go for it," because then they will not learn as much as they should from the FIRST experience.*

Friday, October 13, 2017

A little board game history:Probably the oldest board game known to have existed was Senet, and Egyptian game during the Predynastic (3500 BC) and First Dynasty (3100 BC). It was made of wood board with holes which were used to hold carved sticks that were moved about the board.The game of Monopoly was originally invented in 1903 by American anti-monopolist Elizabeth Magie; It was intended as an educational tool to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies. Magie took out a patent in 1904. Her game, The Landlord's Game, was self-published, beginning in 1906. Later, in 1933, a variation on The Landlord's Game called Monopoly was the basis of the board game sold by Parker Brothers, beginning on February 6, 1935.There have been lots of board games where you move around the board (usually made of cardboard) and accumulate play money, items, or be the first to make it to an end square.In 2009, LEGO has also created board games made of LEGO elements (of course).Two Brics~2~Bots engineers, Olivia and Jonas, have invented a rather different type of board game call Thief.

Introduction to the manual:

This game is a little different in that it is sort of three games in one. The object of the game is to catch the thief and return him to jail, thus winning the game. However, if a player catches the thief he could escape from his captor, but could also be capture by another player, or the thief could escape through the portal to another unknown time zone, winning the game.

Monday, October 9, 2017

If you are still having trouble with the field set-up, rules, etc. check out FIRST LEGO League (European) websiteIt's the same rules, but it sometimes gives another perspective & pictures. Shout out to: Mary Lee, St. Clare School Robotics, thanks for reminding me about this website. *

You might have noticed that the Pump System can move when you try to attach the Pump Addition. Check the Hydro DynamicsRobot GameField SetUp Guide. It says, "Secure the model to the North border wall within the marks." There are no Velcro marks on the field mat. So, it probably means use Velcro on the wall. See picture from another FIRST guide:

If you are having a little trouble with the Water Treatment model working properly (and you know you built it correctly with gear meshing not too tight or loose), double check the gear to the conveyor belt - the bar across the belt should be as pictured when you attach the gear.

Thursday, September 14, 2017

This year's mat is very colorful, so the Brics~2~Bots engineers decided to test (using our test robot "Testy") the color sensor out on this year's mat, programming with the EV3 software. So here are some tips for new teams when using the Color Sensor....

Test 1: Using WAIT for Color > Compare > Color whether black or white the color sensor sometimes detected very light (for white) and very dark (for black). That could be a problem!

1. Calibrate for black or white before the matches using Port View on the robot controller to measure Reflecting Light and adjust your program to WAIT for Color > Compare > Reflected Light Intensity for the resulting Threshold.

or

2. Write a Color Calibration program using the Color Sensor block which can be made into a MyBlock. Then place that color calibration MyBock at the beginning of the mission program to calibrate for a specific color & Write/store it in a Variable (give it a name, i.e. the color) that can be used to Read data (the light's threshold vale) into the WAiT for Color block in the mission section of the program.

Color Calibration & stored Applied in a mission to find the Black line.

3. If your missions programs are all under one EV3 Project, you can write a calibration program, saving the Threshold value in a Variable that can be used in any of the missions saved in that project. Several different color variables can be stored in the project.

STEM to STEAM

Not to long ago the U.S. educational system realized it was lagging in the areas of math, and science. So STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, Math became the new focus in education in an attempt to improve the quality of these subjects, get students interested in these subjects so that we could inspire them to pursue careers in these areas. LEGO Technology and Mindstorms Robotics is a natural tool for teaching STEM.

Now there is a new movement emerging STEM + ART (and DESIGN) = STEAM. Well, you might be saying, “Oh no, not another buzz word.” However, if you think about, Art and Design can be found in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Art and Design can actually help improve on our innovations in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math in our quest to improve the quality of life and our future existence.

And of course, LEGO Technology, Mindstorms Robotics, and littleBits definitely fits in the STEAM objectives.

Learning Code

Inclusion!

Helping an urban community to learn technology!

This non-profit organization was created by one of my former middle school students & FIRST LEGO League team member of the Cyberbots.

Brics~2~Bots Curriculum

Why Brics~2~Bots?

It’s a challenge, it’s hands-on, it’s learning in action. John Dewey set forth the theory that we learn better by doing - we take the knowledge and apply it by building. With LeGology Technology, littleBits Electronics, & MINDSTORMS/TETRIX Robotics Engineering students learn by designing, building, & coding. The benefits of such a curriculum goes beyond the science concepts that can be learned, the math theories that can be explained, and literacy skills that are practiced through communication between students, reflective journals and design worksheets; students express their creativity & learn to problem solve together to reach a goal - creating and inventing “cool devices” capable of awesome tasks. LeGology Technology, littleBits Electronics, & Robotics Engineering (Brics~2~Bots) are great for a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts/Design, Math) program, because it touches on all these subjects.

To see some of the projects by students at Brics~2~Bots, type in "B2B Lab" in the Search This Blog in the sidebar.

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About Me

I have been involved with LEGO® & robotics since 2002. I was the coach of NYC-FLL championship teams: Techno-Eagles, roboGbots, NYCityzens, Dragonbotz, Vulcabotz, Optibotz & The Cyberbots (FLL & FTC). Currently, I am a part-time robotics consultant who sets up LEGO Technology & robotics programs, conducts NXT & EV3 robotics workshops for schools & various organizations (AMNH). I am the Director/Instructor of Brics~2~Bots; a mini LEGO center that supports the S.T.E.A.M. initiative providing individual & small group instruction to children, gifted to special needs. Training & mentoring for new FLL coaches is also available. I am un-shamefully an AFOLAR - Adult Fan Of LEGO And Robotics! ;-)